Since the U.S. left Iraq, the city of Ramadi has been at the center of a power struggle between Iraq and ISIS and it recently fell to the militant group in May. The Iraqi army has mounted an attempt to take the city back and began using the stadium as a base to launch attacks. Prior to leaving the region, ISIS reportedly filled the stadium with explosives.

Speaking to ARA News, Abu Yasser, a tribal leader in the city of Fallujah, said that IS militants, before their withdrawal from al-Bujileeb northwest of Ramadi, had filled the Olympic Stadium with explosives."Days after the Iraqi army forces regained control of it, the group blew up the stadium, causing dozens of casualties among the Shiite Popular Mobilization forces who were taking the area as a military base," he added.